Revelation 3:15-16 says, “15I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”

 

By the choice that you make, to either live for God or for the works of the flesh and the devil, you will either spend eternity in heaven or hell. There are no “in-betweens.” People who are in a lukewarm condition will still spend eternity in hell because a lukewarm condition makes God sick. He would rather us be cold or hot! (Revelation 3:16) Some people may even believe in purgatory, but there is absolutely NO biblical evidence to support such a fairy tale. In fact, purgatory is actually correlated with Halloween! “The celebration can be traced back to the Druid festival of the dead. The Roman Pantheon, built by Emperor Hadrian in A.D. 100 as a temple to the goddess Cybele and other Roman gods, became the principle place of worship. In 609, Emperor Phocas seized Rome and gave the Pantheon to Pope Boniface IV. Boniface consecrated it to the Virgin Mary and kept using the temple to pray for the dead, only now it was “Christianized,” as men added the unscriptural teaching of purgatory. In 834, Gregory IV extended the feast for all the church and it became known as All Saint’s Day, still remembering the dead.”* 

 

When you understand the historical background of the belief in purgatory, you quickly acknowledge the fact that it descended from idolatrous beliefs. It has become a scapegoat and a crutch for many to live in sin because one day some “priest” will pray them out of purgatory, and they will live in eternal joy and peace in heaven. However, Philippians 2:12 says, “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Paul was commending the church of Philippi for obeying God both in and away from his presence because they refused to ride on the coattail of someone else’s anointing and relationship with God. Instead, they chose to work out their own salvation with a pure fear of God, and so should we! We cannot expect to make it to heaven based on the pastor’s anointing or another person’s prayer life, but we must work out our own salvation, which completely destroys any form of purgatory beliefs! It is either heaven or hell, and each person must choose their future!

 

People may say, “Well purgatory is not written in scripture, but it was referred to, just in the same way the words rapture, Millenial reign, Trinity and demon are not written but are referred to.” The only problem with that is purgatory is not referred to in scripture. Let me explain the real meanings of the scriptures so that they will not be taken out of context to prove such a false, paganistic ideology as being truth.

 

Matthew 12:32 says, “And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” “World” here literally means “age”. The world to come does not imply purgatory, but rather of a certain “age” to come, referring to the Millennial period of Christ’s reign.

 

Matthew 5:26 says, “Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.” You must read the context of the scripture. Verse 25 says, “Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.” Under Roman law an adversary could force his opponent to go before the judge. If he would settle on the way to the judge he would not be tried in court. However, if he was tried in court and was found guilty, he would be put in prison, which costed a farthing, the equivalent amount to pay in the case of some debt.

 

Matthew 18:34-35 says, “And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.” This is a parable referring to how if people refuse to forgive others, God will also refuse to forgive them, and they will be tormented in hell if they don’t become forgiving.

 

1 Corinthians 3:15 says, “If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” Many Catholics believe Purgatory to be a place where sin is purged. However, what does this scripture mean in context? It means that if you are a believer and your sins have been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ, you will go to heaven, but your works will be tried by fire, meaning at the judgment seat of Christ, where it will be determined what rewards you receive. This does not mean that you have a time in purgatory where you are purged from the sinful life that you lived on earth. This means that if you make it to heaven, your works on earth will be tried at the judgment seat so it can be determined how you will be rewarded in eternal life. (2 Corinthians 5:10-11; Romans 14:10-12)**

 

Resources:

* “The Evidence Bible”, Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort, p. 1574

** http://members.cox.net/sfobro/purga.html